Who Ruined Livemocha? The Death of a Great Language-Learning Tool

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A few years ago, I was a big fan of LiveMocha. At the time, it was one of the best free websites to learn foreign languages. Now that it's been bought by Rosetta Stone, it's horrible. I still think Rosetta Stone is a decent piece of software, but I don't understand why RS had to ruin a good thing. Tonight, I registered on LiveMocha again, hoping to learn some basic vocabulary. How disappointed I was! Now the website is completely different. I want the old LiveMocha back. While no program, web site, book, CD or DVD aimed at the language-learning crowd will ever be perfect, LiveMocha was a great alternative to paid products (which sometimes disappoint). The lessons were complete and weren't so much based on translation as on one of the greatest abilities we all have--inferring the meaning of new words. By slowly introducing new words and some grammar, LiveMocha was essentially spoon-feeding the user. I also really miss the recording feature. Users would record a text in the foreign language, then native speakers would correct their pronunciation. To be honest, I think Rosetta Stone is similar to LiveMocha in many ways. The main problem is that it's a very expensive piece of software. LiveMocha was such an inviting website that I really wanted to study multiple languages on it--just to get more points and meet new people. The social features of LiveMocha have all but disappeared, and the website won't stay free for much longer. It's been a long time since I've used RS for American English but I'll do some digging and see if I can find the CD somewhere. I probably won't be able to test RS in other languages unless I find out that they have it at my school.

How to Find Penpals/Language Exchange Partners/Foreign Friends on the Internet (All Foreign Languages) Part 2

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I hope you're enjoying this mini-series of articles! 3. Visit blogs which are in the foreign language you're learning and leave comments Try to find blogs which are either just starting out (you could befriend the owner of the blog) or popular already (many potential language exchange partners are visiting the blog!). Look for blog directories that are in the language you're learning. You could also ask your social networks friends for blog recommendations! Leave a few friendly comments and give out an email address. This email address will likely get spam but that's fine, the important thing is that you find a foreign friend! 4. Exploit the power of YouTube in your target language Look for nice videos that are in the foreign language you're learning and start interacting with people that way. Ask them for more video recommendations, post video responses... This is one of the best methods to make foreign friends if you aren't shy! Don't hesitate to ask your new language friends for corrections. In order to become fluent, you will need help from native speakers at some point.

Thoughts About Learning Another Language

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I've just deleted two posts that I intended to publish today. I really wanted to give my opinion on languages and schooling but many people have done this before me.
I need to cater to my main audience (the English-speaking world) and I figured that going off on a tangent about the French schooling system was a bad idea. However, I will happily give general tips to learn foreign languages, and I might publish mini French courses in the future.
Blogging is a learning experience, and one that is similar to learning foreign languages in many ways. Learn from my mistakes. When you're speaking a foreign language, keep it short and relevant. (KISS!)

When I started studying English, I was very talkative. I thought that speaking a lot (and speaking loudly!) was the key to becoming fluent in a foreign language.
I passed up many opportunities to have intelligent conversations with native speakers because of my behavior. I had many English-speaking friends who were amused by my bubbly "persona"... but who didn't take me seriously.
Oh well, at least I practiced a lot.

In hindsight, I'm pretty sure I spoke loudly because I was afraid of being misunderstood. It's funny how humans start panicking when they're faced with the prospect of being ridiculed. :)

That's all for today. I will post a complete review of Rosetta Stone Level 1 as soon as I'm done with American English L1.

How to Find Penpals/Language Exchange Partners/Foreign Friends on the Internet (All Foreign Languages) Part 1

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I'm going to give you advice so that you can find new foreign friends on the internet. Finding a penpal is important if you want to improve your linguistics skills. 1. Try to find specific social networks that are used by people who speak your target language Not everybody uses Facebook. Register on new social websites in order to find language exchange partners. Be honest in your profile--say that you're looking for new friends so that you can learn a language and discover another culture. E-mail members regularly and you might just form new friendships! Of course, never tell people where you live, and avoid giving your phone number because it's possible to track you with it if you don't use a disposable phone.  

2. Once you're a member of the social network, visit the links people post on their walls Leave friendly comments on members' walls and you will soon find a new pen-pal. Don't be shallow though--leaving a short comment is okay as long as you mean what you've written. However, if you're a beginner, just saying "Great find! Thank you for sharing this link! Can I add you to my friends?" is okay. You will soon have many international friends. You can also ask the member if they speak another language, if they like foreign languages/traveling... Don't be shy! See you in part 2!

Can I Really Learn a Foreign Language? And Can I Become Fluent in It?

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Yes, you can learn a foreign language. If you're reading this post, it means you're at least somewhat motivated to start studying another language. A little motivation is all you need to start! Give yourself a week to see if you truly like the foreign language that you chose. If you're too busy to invest a whole week into this project, study the foreign language you've chosen for 30 minutes a day (every day) for a month. Day 1 Look for language-learning resources for beginners. For now, use the internet or the library. Trust me, buying a lot of language-learning material on Day 1 is a big mistake! While purchasing books can be a good way to motivate yourself, you should wait till the end of your seven-day language-learning experiment to go on a shopping spree. Pick one book that is particularly short or start reading an online course that is really easy to understand. Most people think that reading a complicated course means that they will learn the foreign language faster. They couldn't be more wrong. You need to ease yourself into it. Diving headfirst into ice cold water can be dangerous. So is reading a complicated grammar book right away! :) I will post more tips for beginners soon! Try to study your new foreign language for two hours per day this week. Use the "dead" time you have at your disposal (Read tips on time management here: http://fluent-language.blogspot.com/2013/06/how-to-have-more-time-to-learn-foreign.html

I'm a Beginner Language Learner: What Should I Watch? Everything Is Too Difficult For Me! Part 1

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What should you watch when you're a beginner language learner? When you're a beginner and you're just starting to immerse yourself in a foreign language, you will soon realize that there's a big difference between watching TV in your native language and in Japanese/French/Italian/Spanish. I'm aware of this because there are still American shows that I don't understand perfectly. That being said, I don't always understand French TV perfectly either! Some TV shows have bad audio, and even if my hearing is good (I got it tested), I just can't stand bad audio quality. Usually, if you don't understand a particular movie or show, it's because of the slang the actors use. Becoming fluent in a language is a great experience and you will be able to understand lots of material very well if you work hard... but slang is really hard to master, even in your native language! I highly recommend you give shows for toddlers a chance, at least for a while. You can learn a lot of things by watching Teletubbies or Dora the Explorer. Even if can only stomach a few hours of shows for kids, you will have learned a lot, trust me.

I'm a Beginner Language Learner: What Should I Watch? Everything Is Too Difficult! Part 2

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This is the second part of the article. Please check out the first part too! Once you've watched a few shows for young children, it's time to graduate to show for teens or shows which deal with your favorite hobby. For example, if you like sports, watch a few matches/games. After watching ten baseball games in a foreign language, you will start to memorize the important vocabulary for that sport. Concentrate on a single topic for some time. Don't hesitate to use a dictionary if there are words don't understand. Using tools such as dictionaries will expedite the language-learning process. I also recommend you read the news from time to time. Websites such as the BBC are a gold mine for English learners. Find the equivalent of the BBC or NPR in your target language. News bulletins usually contain common words, no slang, and some of them can be particularly interesting, especially tabloids if you're into gossiping. May your language-learning goals become a reality!

Are You a Beginner Language Learner? Here's What to Do!

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I try to write comprehensible blog posts but most of my visitors probably have never learned a language before.
Fear not: you've learned and mastered your native language, so you are able to learn a foreign language.

Most of the people who are disabled and thus see the world a bit differently and have some learning difficulties can become bilingual. No matter who you are, you can learn a language to fluency.
Second language acquisition isn't rocket science, thankfully!

I guess language-learning is a bit like playing a sport. If you want to attack the other team, you need a plan. You also have to work on specific elements of your game to get better = you need to set some goals for yourself. If you are good at dribbling (using vocabulary about yourself and your family), try to dribble around some cones without touching them (make some sentences with your newly learned foreign vocabulary).
Try to find some beginner content to start with. I will be suggesting material on this blog at some point.

I hope you like these language-learning tips!
And don't forget: setting your goal is the hardest part. Decide what you want to work on and memorizing vocabulary or finding time to listen to the radio will become easier. Share this page on social networks such as Digg or Stumbleupon if you like it! The social media icons are below "Share this page" on the right-hand side of the blog. It only takes a couple of minutes!

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Fluent Language Tips Twitter Feed! @language_tips

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Announcement: The Social Sharing Icons have moved! They are now located under the title of this page for your convenience.

I hope you are all having a great day!
Even though I'm currently taking exams and working on a research paper, I took the time to create a Twitter account (@language_tips) and I must say I am loving it!
My tweets are mostly about languages and motivation. Most of what I write/retweet is written in English but I might use French/Italian in the future.

Right now, I'm following 125 people. Since I'm still studying English, I'm mostly interested in tweets written in English. You never stop learning a foreign language!

If you aren't on Twitter yet, I highly recommend you get an account. I've heard that Twitter is the new Facebook, and it just might be true. As a language learner, you cannot afford to miss out on updates from the language-learning world.

I'll be posting more information about Twitter and tips to become fluent in a foreign language soon.
Until then, find me on @language_tips

How to Have More Time to Learn a Foreign Language Part 3

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Announcement: The Social Sharing Icons have moved! They are now located under the title of this page for your convenience. Thank you for the Google +1's on my last article!

This is Part 3 of my mini-series dealing with time management and language-learning.

You undoubtedly lead a very busy life. I'm honored you found some time to visit my blog about language-learning.
Second language acquisition doesn't have to eat up all the hours of your day though.
I think most people have at least 30 minutes of unused time per day.

If you're washing or doing the dishes, how about playing the radio at the same time? A foreign language station can keep you entertained for hours.
While you wait for the water to boil, get that grammar book out. It may not be the most interesting book in the world, but reading it beats looking at water that's sitting in a saucepan.

You could also listen to some language-learning CDs and repeat the dialogs to memorize them. That way, you will work on foreign vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation at the same time.

Using these little abandoned chunks of time will help you become fluent in a foreign language. Thirty minutes of daily study is plenty. If you kept this up for a year, you would have accumulated over 150 hours of study!

Trust me, after 150 hours, you will be reasonably fluent in French/Chinese/Japanese/English/Spanish... I know that languages which use other writing systems take longer to learn at first, but 150 hours is plenty to learn all the basic kanji you need and some phrases/grammar/pronunciation.

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How to Have More Time to Learn a Foreign Language Part 2 Commuting

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This is Part 2 of my mini-series dealing with time management and language-learning.
Here is Part 1: http://fluent-language.blogspot.com/2013/06/how-to-have-more-time-to-learn-foreign.html

If you work or if you're still in school, commuting probably takes you a lot of time. Maybe you take the train or the bus if you're still fairly young. You might also drive to work with your own car (lucky you!).

What you have here is wasted time, even if you like to people watch. How about putting that time to good use instead?

Here are some language-learning tips for commuters:
* Put a CD into your car stereo and turn up the volume. Voilà, you're bopping your head to groovy Spanish music! (Or maybe not.)
* If you're more of a traditional language learner, you might like listening to audiobooks in your car. There are language-learning tapes out there, but they usually aren't any good. Play a simple audiobook instead, and your language abilities will improve quickly!

All those wasted minutes turn into hours if you don't harness them. Moreover, commuting is a lot more fun with a little music.
If you're alone, you could repeat the words to a song to practice your pronunciation.

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How to Have More Time to Learn a Foreign Language Part 1

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Most people waste a lot of time on a daily basis. I admit my time-management techniques aren't perfect, but I do what I can to use my time wisely. For example, do you *really* like all those shows you've been watching recently? If you do, that's great. If you don't, it might be time to stop watching so much TV. Or maybe you could try to find a dub of these shows in another language.

 I know some people are against watching a dubbed show just to get some exposure to a foreign language, but sometimes dubs are better than the original. It doesn't happen often, but it does happen. Hearing your favorite character speak Chinese or French is very interesting anyway. Sometimes they pick the quirkiest voices! Also, I think that watching reality shows in one's native language is a sure-fire way of wasting loads of time that you could be investing into language learning instead. Most American reality shows have been bought by other countries and are dubbed in foreign languages or were adapted for foreign television.

If you can, buy DVDs of reality shows or watch TV in French/German/Japanese. I'm sure you get a lot of foreign TV stations if you have cable TV!


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How Can You Learn the Grammar Rules of a Foreign Language?

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If you want to learn a foreign language, sooner or later you will have to deal with grammar.
Grammar *can* be fun, but it depends on how you learn it.

I'm sure you at least studied some grammar when you were "learning" your native language at school. Maybe you were surprised when you discovered that French has a lot of conjugations for verbs whereas English verbs are pretty easy to conjugate.

Some people (and I'm one of those people) actually like to read a grammar book from time to time. A good grammar book contains a myriad of bilingual sentences. 
Moreover, if you're at an advanced level, you can read a grammar book in the foreign language you're learning. That's a big plus!

Is studying grammar necessary when you're learning a foreign language?
Well, most of the time, it is. However, in some cases you can get by without knowing conjugations by heart. You could use the infinitive form of a verb for example, and you would still be understood.

If you want to be able to communicate more smoothly in a foreign language, perusing a grammar book would do you a lot of good.
While learning about genders might not be capital, learning some adverbs and connecting tools by heart along with a few example sentences can be very beneficial.

Remember, grammar should be part of your toolbox. It should serve *you*. If you are so stressed out about making mistakes that you can't communicate in a foreign language when you travel, it's no good.
Try to get someone to correct your mistakes, but above all, try to be understood.
Moving your hands or drawing pictures are also fine means of communication if you aren't fluent enough to construct understandable sentences yet.

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Do You Need Penpals/Friends to Learn a Foreign Language?

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I started voice-chatting in Italian after studying the language for only a few hours. I was very shy at the time but I did learn a lot from this first experience. I ended up finding an Italian friend that I called on a regular basis. I was still a beginner at the time.
Talking with my new friend helped me improve my Italian language skills, and it was a lot of fun too!


However, if your penpal speaks your native language very well, you might be in trouble. I picked a penpal who didn't speak a word of French or English. That's why I had such a great time talking to her.

If your friend speaks great English, they will quickly get tired of correcting your mistakes and trying to understand you. They may even switch to English.


Make sure you know some basic phrases before looking for a language-exchange partner/friend.

As long as you're polite (and apologetic if you make mistakes), you're good to go!

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The Importance of Listening to Material in Your Foreign Language

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Listening to material in the language you're studying is very important. However, I'm not an advocate of passive listening for the sake of passive listening. Such artificial "immersion" isn't beneficial in the long run.

For example, listening to hours of K-pop won't teach you a word of Korean unless you look up the lyrics of the songs and use a dictionary.

There are some songs which actually teach you vocabulary, but they were made for little kids--think "Sesame Street" or "Dora the Explorer".

If you're visiting this blog, surely it's because you want to become fluent in a new language.
How about turning this goal into a reality?
Take a piece of paper and write your daily "listening goal". Be reasonable: if you're a busy adult who is working full-time, you probably have little time to set aside for language learning.
That being said, I'm sure you can play a CD when you're commuting.

Unless you're currently studying for a very difficult exam or in the middle of a big project at work, devote at least 30 minutes to active listening every day.

I think beginners should start by studying a few songs that they like. Watching TV is less rewarding than understanding a short song in its entirety when you're just starting out.

Good luck with your language-learning endeavors!

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